Nerve Endings Firing Away

Aamir finds himself amongst controversy yet again and this time, it is concerning his latest release, Fanaa also starring Kajol who is making a comeback. Multiplexes in Gujarat are said to have refused to screen the movie because of Aamir much-publicized comments on Narendra Modi’s government over the handling of the Narmada Bachao Andolan. Now, if that reason is correct, the theater owners may well be within their rights to do so but eventually hopefully are aware that they will lose out on profits that precede any movie that Aamir Khan stars in and to hype it up further, Kajol is making her comeback. Star-driven movies are often assured of a bumper opening and the Gujarat multiplex owners can opt out of this profit-making ride based on their allegedly ideological reasons. But are they willing to lose out on profit? Business-minded Gujjus are often averse to decisions against economic reasons; so what is the real motive?

It turns out that, the real reasons might not be the comments that Aamir made but in fact a dispute over revenue sharing. Yash Raj’s slick marketing campaigns often hype up films that lack any content or reasonable cinematic value (evidence A: Salaam Namaste) so it is natural that they want a larger piece of the pie especially from movies that are assuredly a success. Yash Raj is negotiating a higher share in profits and the multiplex owners are passing it on to the consumer in form of a price hike. Of course, they are completely entitled to and even charge atrocious amounts as much as the public is willing to pay. I remember tickets for Titanic being sold in black at Regal for almost Rs.800. Why would anyone pay so much for a stupid movie is beyond me but if people are willing to buy, heck, charge them as much as they are willing to fork out. Access to movies are no public interest matters. Whether Aamir dies when Fanaa ends (or as the controversy seems to suggest) hardly matters in larger scheme of things.

For whatever reason if Fanna doesn’t hit the screens in Gujarat,  Kamleeees Bhai go and watch The Da Vinci Code (disclaimer and all) or X-Men: The Last Stand. They definitely might be more entertaining.